WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (May 4, 2018) – The Webber International University baseball team got off to a great start at the 2018 Sun Conference Baseball Tournament, upsetting No. 4 nationally ranked and second-seeded Southeastern University for the second time this season, this time by a score of 3-2. Additionally, the conference announced its annual award winners during an on-field ceremony after the game as senior Chris Medina and junior Zak Spivy were named First-Team All-Sun Conference and junior Marcus Begg was named to the second-team.

Webber improved to 32-21 on the season overall while Southeastern fell to 50-6 with the Warriors accounting for one third of SEU's defeats. It was another one-run victory, 10-9, for the Warriors over the then-ranked No. 3 Fire back on April 11 as Tanner White allowed only one run in six innings and was named The Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week.

This time around, great starting pitching was again the key as Spivy (6-6) went the distance for his sixth complete game of the season.

Spivy was magnificent throughout, allowing only three hits and no earned runs the whole way while walking only one and striking out nine Fire batters. Meanwhile, Spivy's counterpart for Southeastern, Jonathan Bermudez (12-2), the recently named Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, lost for only the second time all season. Bermudez entered the contest leading the NAIA in wins (12), opponent batting average (.153) and hits allowed per nine (4.78) while also recording 120 strikeouts.

The Warriors got to Bermudez from the very start, manufacturing a run in the bottom of the first inning as Manny Rodriguez led off with a single up the middle, stole second, moved to third on a fielders' choice by Jesse Coleman and then scored on a double steal with Coleman.

Webber then left runners in scoring position in the second and third innings before falling behind 2-1 in the fifth after the third hit by pitch given up by Spivy to that point led to a two-out, two run single for the Fire.

However, Rodriguez and the Warriors had the answer as in the sixth inning, Rodriguez reached base for the third time in three appearances and then stole his second base of the game to move himself into scoring position with one out.

Rodriguez was then moved to third base on a single by Begg, and then after sacrificing himself on the base paths in the first inning to allow Rodriguez to score, Coleman came up big with a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game.

The sixth, seventh and eighth innings were Spivy's third, fourth and fifth 1-2-3 innings of the game, setting up Webber's bottom of the eighth in which it was again Rodriguez who started things off by reaching base, his fourth time doing so in four appearances.

After Rodriguez took another base on a wild pitch, Coleman again delivered in the clutch, smacking a two-out single to center to score Rodriguez from second and give Spivy and the Warriors the one-run advantage they would need to finish it off.

"Today was another great win for us," said Head Coach Brad Niethammer. "Zac [Spivy] stepped up and pitched an outstanding game and Jesse [Coleman] got the big hit when we needed it. We will be back at it tomorrow trying to keep it going."

In all, Rodriguez finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored, Coleman was 1-for-3 with two runs batted in, Begg was 1-for-3 with a walk and Quirino Esquivel was 3-for-4 with a stolen base.

Next up, Webber will battle third-seeded Florida Memorial University at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 5. The Lions were one of two other teams the Warriors tied for third with in The Sun Conference standings.



As mentioned before, Spivy, Medina and Begg were then honored postgame between games two and three on Friday on the field for their respective all-conference honors. Additionally, senior catcher Mark Martinez earned Academic All-Sun Conference.

Spivy, a starting pitcher from Naples, Florida, pitched from the top spot in the Warriors' rotation all season long and finished his first regular season in a Webber uniform with a 5-6 record while posting a team-best 2.42 earned run average, striking out 87 batters and pitching the second most innings in all of the NAIA (100.1). In his 14 starts before the postseason, he tossed five complete game performances, including one shutout against the University of South Carolina Beaufort on April 20, and he also held opponents to a team-low .246 batting average against.

In addition to ranking second in the country in total innings pitched, Spivy was also fifth in the NAIA in innings pitched per game (7.17) and was 44th in ERA. On February 23 against Ave Maria University, Spivy threw himself into the Webber record books by striking out 15 Gyrenes, the second most strikeouts in any single game by a Webber pitcher ever.

Medina, a third baseman from Miami, Florida, who transferred into Webber for the season from NCAA Division-II Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, led the Warriors with a .340 batting average, 69 hits, 12 doubles, 46 runs batted in and a .424 on base percentage. He also tied for first on the squad with eight home runs, was second in walks with 29 and slugging percentage at .537 percent, was third in runs with 39, and added seven stolen bases on nine attempts. He was the only Warrior to start in all 52 games throughout the regular season.

Medina's 69 hits ranked 46th in all of the NAIA while he also ranked 20th in the nation in total at bats (203) and was 29th in at bats per game (3.90).

Begg, a third baseman/first baseman from Odessa, Florida, was selected to the all-conference second-team as a designated hitter. He was second on the Warriors in batting average (.317), doubles (11), RBI's (33) and on base percentage (.423 percent). He led the team with a .547 slugging percentage and 33 walks, matched Medina with eight home runs for the team lead, and was fourth on the team with 37 runs scored. He was 3-of-4 on stolen base attempts, and started in 44 of his 46 games played.

Against Keiser University on March 24, Begg tied his career-high in hits (4) and in home runs (2) while recording a career-best 10 total bases, and then only six days later on March 30 at Warner University, Begg again hit two home runs while matching his career-high in RBI's (5) and runs scored (3).

To be eligible for the academic award, a student-athlete must have two semesters complete at their institution, and hold a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.


First-Team All-Sun Conference


Second-Team All-Sun Conference


Academic All-Sun Conference Team